Method and apparatus for manufacturing electrical harnesses

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for manufacturing an electrical harness comprises a harness board having mounted thereon a number of jig members which is equal to the number of multi-contact connectors in the finished harness. The jig members are of a type that is adapted to hold an electrical connector housing and to locate wires in alignment with the terminals in the housings. The jig members are also adapted to have assembled thereto a wire-trimming and inserting tool which trims the wires in the jig and inserts the wires into the terminals in the connector. The harness is manufactured by lacing wires between and among the jig members in accordance with the locations of the wires as desired in the finished harness. After the wire lacing operation has been completed, the insertion tool is assembled or mounted on each of the jig members and the wires are trimmed and inserted into the terminals in the connector housings. Alternative apparatus can be used in accordance with the method aspect of the disclosure.

Folkenroth States Patent [191 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ELECTRICAL HARNESSES [75] lnventor: Earl Earnest Folkenroth,

Harrisburg, Pa.

[73] Assignee: AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa.

[22] Filed: Apr. 4, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 347,957

[52] US. Cl. 29/628, 29/203 MW, 140/921 [51] Int. Cl H0lr 43/00 [58] Field of Search 29/203 J, 203 MW, 203 P,

29/628, 203 H, 203 HM 4/1974 Tucci 29/203 H Jan. 14, 1975 Primary ExaminerC. W. Lanham Assistant ExaminerJames R. Duzan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-William J. Keating; Jay L. Seitchik; F. W. Raring [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for manufacturing an electrical harness comprises a harness board having mounted thereon a number of jig members which is equal to the number of multi-contact connectors in the finished harness. The jig members are of a type that is adapted to hold an electrical connector housing and to locate wires in alignment with the terminals in the housings. The jig members are also adapted to have assembled thereto a wire-trimming and inserting tool which trims the wires in the jig and inserts the wires into the terminals in the connector. The harness is manufactured by lacing wires between and among the jig members in accordance with the locations of the wires as desired in the finished harness. After the wire lacing operation has been completed, the insertion tool is assembled or mounted on each of the jig members and the wires are trimmed and inserted into the terminals in the con nector housings. Alternative apparatus can be used in accordance with the method aspect of the disclosure.

12 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures PATENTED JAN I 4 I975 SHEET 0 0F 10 PATENIED JAN 1 M975 sum ns'ordo PATENTEB JAN 1 4l975 SHEET GSUF 1O PATENTED JAN 1 4|975 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ELECTRICAL HARNESSES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION described and claimed in application Ser. No. 347,965.

It will be apparent, however, that the principles of the invention are not limited to these specific connectors and wire-insertion and trimming apparatus but that the invention can be practiced with other types of multicontact connectors and wire-trimming and inserting apparatus.

It is conventional practice to manufacture electrical harnesses of the type comprising a plurality of multicontact electrical connectors and conductors secured to, and extending between, the contact terminals in the connectors by providing a panel or harness board having mounted thereon a number of wire-positioning jigs (combs) which is equal to the number of connectors in the harness being manufactured. These combs or wire-positioning jigs are located at positions corresponding to the locations of the connectors in the harness and each comb or jig has a plurality of parallel spaced apart vanes or barriers thereon. The wires for the harness are laced over the surface of the board and positioned between adjacent barriers on the jigs on paths conforming to the positions and paths of the wires in the harness being manufactured. After the wires have been laced over the board, and between the jigs in this manner, they are bundled or tied together and the ends of the wires in the jigs are cut to predetermine lengths. The bundle of wires is then removed from the harness board, the individual wires are then stripped and terminals are crimped onto the wire ends. In the final step of this manufacturing process, the terminals are inserted into the cavities of electrical connector housings.

As an alternative to the method of manufacturing harnesses described above, electrical leads having terminals crimped onto there ends can be bundled on the harness boards and the terminals inserted into the cavities of connector housings.

The harness making methods described above are relatively time consuming, require a substantial amount of meticulous and pain-staking manipulative steps, and are of a nature such that mistakes are often made which must be corrected before the harness can be put to use.

The instant invention is directed to the achievement of an improved harness making method and apparatus in which the wires, after they have been laced between and among wire-positioning jigs on the harness board, are immediately and in a single operation cut to predetermined lengths or trimmed inserted or connected to terminals contained in electrical connectors which are also mounted in the jigs.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an improved apparatus for manufacturing electrical harnesses. A further object is to provide an improved method of manufacturing electrical harnesses. A further object is to provide a method and apparatus for manufacturing electrical harnesses in which the frequency of error and defects in the finished harness is reduced. A further object is to provide a method and apparatus for manufacturing electrical harnesses which permits the harness manufacturing operation to be carried out in a minimum amount of time and with a minimum amount of skilled labor.

Further objects of the invention are achieved in preferred embodiments thereof which is briefly described in the foregoing abstract, which is described in detail below and which is shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of multi-contact electrical connector having conductors secured to the terminals which are contained therein, the connector shown being particularly adapted for use in the practice of the instant invention.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an electrical harness composed of four connectors of the type shown in FIG. 1 and wires extending between the connnectors.

FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the connector of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective exploded view of a conductor trimmed and inserting apparatus and a jig member on which the trimming and inserting apparatus is adapted to be mounted, the apparatus and jig member of this jig being particularly suited for the practice of the instant invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 4 showing the positions of the parts that the conclusion of the wire-trimming and inserting operation.

FIG. 6 is a sectional side view of the apparatus, the insertion slide member being in its open or raised position in this view.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side view, on an enlarged scale of the apparatus illustrating the location of a wire in the jig member.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 but showing the positions of the parts at the conclusion of the wiretrimming and inserting operation.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing details of the conductor inserting means of the apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a harness board in accordance with the invention which is particularly adapted for the manufacture of harnesses of the type shown in FIG. 1A.

FIGS. 11-13 are views similar to FIG. 10 which illustrate the manufacture of a harness: as shown in FIG. 1A.

The instant invention requires :an electrical connector having terminals therein which conductor receiving slots so that individual conductors can be connected to the terminals by merely inserting the conductors laterally of their axes and into the slots of the terminals. Accordingly, the connector and apparatus shown in FIGS. 1-9 are described immediately below to the extent necessary for an understanding of the present invention. Reference is made to applications Ser. No. 347,956 and Ser. No. 347,965 for further details of this connector and apparatus respectively.

The connector 8, FIG. 1, contains a plurality of electrical contact terminals 6 each of which has a wirereceiving slot 4 for the wires 2 of the harness.

Each contact terminal 6 has a flat tongue 10 extending to its forward end which is reversely bent at 12 to provide a rearwardly extending contact portion 14, the

contact portion of the disclosed embodiment being axially slotted to provide two separate contacts with a conductor on a printed circuit board.

The rearward portion of terminal 6 functions as a conductor receiving portion and is generally tubular having a web 16 and sidewalls 18 which are turned inwardly and towards each other to define the previously identified slot 4. The sidewalls are partially sheared along diagonal shear lines which extend from slot 4 to punched holes 22 on each side of the slot so as to provide two separate spring systems for two wires as shown in FIG. 3. The upper portions of the sidewalls extend rearwardly beyond the web 16 as shown at 24 and have convergent edges 25 to assist in guiding the wires into the slot 4.

The housing 26 of the connector is generally prismatic and has a mating face 28 and a rearward face 30. A plurality of contact receiving cavities 32 extend through the housing from the rearward face to the mating face and are separated from each other by T-shaped barriers 34 on the mating face side. As shown in FIG. 3, each cavity is enlarged at its rearward end 36 for the accomodation of the tubular conductor receiving portion of a terminal 6 and openings 38 are provided on the upper surface 40 of the housing which communicate with the cavities and through which the wires extend in the finished and assembled connector. Barriers or fins 42 extend rearwardly from the face 40 on the upper portion of the housing and separate the conductor receiving portions from each other.

A back cover 44, which is mounted on the rearward face 30, is channel-shaped in cross-section and has forwardly extending flanges 46 which surround the rearward portions 24 of the terminals. This back cover has latch arms 48 on its ends which have holes 50 adapted to engage bosses 52 on the oppositely directed ends 39 of the housing 26.

Referring now to FIGS. 4-6, a preferred form of apparatus 54 for trimming wires and inserting the trimmed wires into the slots of the terminal comprises a fixed base 56 which serves as a connector and wire jig and a conductor trimming and inserting tool 58 which is adapted to be removably mounted on the base. The base 56 comprises a base block 60 which may be permanently fixed to a work surface such as a harness board 62 which has an L-shaped recess 64 extending across its upper or free end for the accomodation of a connector housing 26. A cutter bar 68 is mounted in a small recess at the upper end of the free end portion 67 of the block and has integral spaced apart barriers as vanes, these barriers being mounted in alignment with the barriers 42 of the housing contained in the recess 64. The cutter bar extends leftwardly as viewed in FIG. 6 over the connector receiving recess 64 and has upper edges 70 between adjacent barriers 66 which serve as fixed shearing edges as will be described below.

Separate side plates 72 are secured by screws 74 against the ends of the block 60 and have slots 76 extending inwardly from their righthand edges as viewed in FIG. 4. The inner portions of these slots are enlarged and these slots are adapted to receive rails 118, 120 of the tool 58 as will also be described below. The connector housing 26 must be precisely positioned in the recess 64 and to this end, positioning clamps or brackets 78 are secured to the side of the block 60 above the side plates 72. These brackets have inwardly directed bars 79 which extend over the surface 65 of recess 64 and which serve as positioning stops for the ends of the connector 26.

As shown best in FIG. 6, the connector 26 is securely held in the recess 64 by means of a clamping screw 82 which is threaded through a frame plate 84. Barriers or vanes 85 are provided on the upper end of plate 84 which are in alignment with the previously described barriers 66 on the base block 60. As will be apparent from FIG. 7, a wire positioned between adjacent barriers on the face plate and the frame block will extend centrally over a contact terminal 6 in one of the cavities of the housing.

The inserting tool 58 comprises a yoke-like frame having side rails 86 and a cross head 88 extending between the upper ends of these rails. Guide rails 90 extend between the rails 86 midway down from the crosshead 88 and serve to accurately guide a reciprocable slide 92 on which is mounted the wire severing and insertion tooling. This slide is actuated by a cam follower 94 journalled at its upper end in the slide 92 and which is engaged by a cam 96 mounted on a shaft 98 extending through the cross-head 85. A handle 100 is provided on cam 96 so that when this handle is swung through a counterclockwise are as viewed in FIG. 6, the slide 92 will be moved downwardly from the position of FIG. 7 to the position of FIG. 8. The slide 92 is normally maintained in its upper position by return springs 102 extending between pins in the crosshead and the slide.

The lower end of the slide 92 has a groove or recess extending thereacross which defines flanges 104, 105. An inserter 106 FIG. 9 is mounted in this recess be tween the flanges and secured in place by suitable pins 108. This inserter has a plurality of aligned pairs of conductor inserting punches 110, 112 depending from its underside, each pair of aligned punches being separated by a gap so that punches can move downwardly to the position of FIG. 8 on each side of the conductor receiving slot of a terminal. The flange 104 which is proximate to the cutter bar 68 has a lower edge 115 which serves as a movable shearing edge in cooperation with the edges 70 of the cutter bar to sever the individual wires as illustrated in FIG. 8. The rails 86 have outwardly offset portions 116 below the guide rails 90 and the inwardly directed faces of the rails have transversely extending mounting rails 118 which are dimensioned to enter the grooves or slots 76 of the end plates 72.

In use, the inserting tool will normally be removed from the base 56 and when it is desired to connect wires to a connector, the connector is first located in the recess 64 and between the ears 79 of the brackets 78 with the side 40 of the connector opposed to the screw 82. The screw is then tightened to precisely locate the connector against the vertical side of recess 64 and the individual wires are then located between adjacent barriers 85 and adjacent barriers 66 so that the wires extend above the terminals and have their ends located on the righthand side of the connector as shown in FIG. 7. After the wires have been positioned in the jig and in alignment with the terminals to which they are to be connected, the tool is mounted on the base by aligning the rails 118 with the recesses or grooves 76 and moving the tool laterally into these recesses in the side plates. The handle 100 is then swung through a counterclockwise are as viewed in FIG. 6 to drive the slide 92 downwardly to the position of FIG.

8. During such downward move of the slide, each pair of punches 112, 110 engage one of the wires and push it downwardly into the conductor receiving slot of the terminal in the immediately adjacent cavity. As the edge 115 moves past the edge 70 of the cutter bar, the wires are trimmed and the trimmed ends are inserted into the slots of the terminals. When the end of the downward stroke of the slide is reached, the lower end of the flange 104 is against the upwardly facing edge of the housing 30 as shown at 122 in FIG. 8. The screw 82 is then loosened and the connector with the wires attached to the terminals therein can be lifted upwardly between the rows of barriers 66, 85 and removed.

Turning now to FIG. 10, a preferred apparatus in ac cordance with the present invention comprises a panel 24 on harness board having on one surface thereof four apparatus base on jig members 56A, 56B, 56C, and 56D. These jig members are of the type shown in FIG. 4 and are mounted on the panel 124 adjacent to the corners thereof with the vanes or barriers 85 directed inwardly or towards the center of the panel. The jig members 56A-D are located relative to each other in positions corresponding to the locations of the assembled connectors on the harness of FIG. 1A. Panel 124 has two spaced apart centrally located guide pegs 126 thereon and additional guide pegs 128 located adjacent to the jig members 56 AD. In addition, tie-off pegs 130 are provided on the panel 124 at the required locations adjacent to the barriers 66 of the jig members.

In the manufacture of the harness of FIG. 1A, wire or wires are laced between the four jig members along a path which will provide wires extending between the desired predetermined terminal positions of the four electrical connectors. The wiring patterns shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 are typical and were chosen for purposes of illustration and it will be understood that the actual electrical wiring paths will depend upon the requirements of the harness.

In FIG. 1 1, the wire 131 is tied off or wrapped around a peg 130 adjacent to the lefthand end of the jig member 56 D and a continuous length of wire is laid on the board from this connector to the other three connectors along the paths indicated by the arrows in FIG. 11.

The wires are dressed around the posts or pegs 128 where they enter and leave the individual jigs and are laced or dressed between the pegs 126 when they are laid from one of the jig members to another jig member. It should also be noted that this continuous length of wire 130 in FIG. 11 is laced through some of the jig members by positioning it between one pair of barriers 85, 66 and the lacing it around an adjacent barrier 66 and back through the spaced between the next adjacent barriers on the jig member. The end of this first wire run is tied off on one of the pegs 130 adjacent to the jig member 156 as shown.

FIG. 12 illustrates the second step in the manufacturing process in which a second continuous length ofwire 132 is laced over a predetermined path between the four jig members in the manner described with reference to wire 130. Additional wires may be laced on the board in the same manner as required.

After all of the wires have been laced on the board, the only remains to mount the trimming and inserting tool on each of the jig members 56 A 56D, trim the wires on each jig member and insert them into the conductor receiving slots 4 of the terminals. After this trimming and inserting operation has been carried out,

the wires will be permanently secured to the terminals and the finished harness can be removed from the panel board. Wire bundle tie devices are advantageously applied to the four separate wire bundles extending to the individual connectors and additional bundle ties applied in the vicinity of the pegs 126 to se cure to central portions of the wires to each other. The back covers of the connectors are applied to the connector housings after the connectors are applied to the connector housings having the wires extending thereto are removed from the jigs.

A salient advantage of the invention is that the harness manufacturing process is greatly simplified and the previously required steps of the prior art harness manufacturing methods of applied terminals to the individual terminals and inserting these terminals into connector housings are completely eliminated. The most timeconsuming and tedious manipulative operations of previously known harness manufacturing techniques are thus replaced by the simple operation of mounting the insertion tool on the jig members 56 A-B and actuating the tool as described above.

A further advantage of the invention is that after the harness board has been completely laced with the re quired wires as shown in FIG. 12, the lacings can be carefully inspected so that any errors which were made during lacing can be discovered and appropriate corrections made. After inspection and location of any errors, the conductors are connected directly to the terminals in the jig members so that there is absolutely no further possibility of a mistake being made in the location of a wire in a connector of the harness.

The harness illustrated in FIG. 1A is an extremely simple one having only four connectors and a very limited number of wires. The manufacture of a harness of simple construction was purposely illustrated herein in the interest of facility of disclosure. Many electrical harnesses are extremely complex as compared to the harness of FIG. 1A and it will be appreciated that the advantages realized in the practice of the invention increase with the complexity of the harness being manufactured.

In FIGS. 10-13, the harness is made up of two wires 131, 132 which are laced between the four jig members. It is entirely feasible to manufacture the harness by lacing wire from a coil continuously until portions of the wire have been located in the desired positions in the jig members rather than lacing two separate wires as the drawing. The wire lacing or laying operation might be carried out in two steps as shown if two different types of wire, or wires having insulation of dif ferent color for coding purposes, are required. It should also be noted that some of the terminal positions in the jigs do not have wire in them at the conclusion of the lacing operation as shown in FIG. 12. Obviously, wires can be laced to all of the positions in the wire jigs to provide wires extending to all of the terminal positions in the connectors in the finished harness. Again, the actual requirements of the finished harness will dictate the precise number and locations of the wires. The wires, when they are laced through a particular jig member, may leave the jig at a location remote from rather than adjacent to, the position through which they enter the jig.

It will be apparent that the harness manufacturing method as described herein does not require the specific form of apparatus or electrical connector shown and described. For example, each individual jig member might have an insertion tool pivotably connected to the base member in a manner such that the tool can be swung out from the jig so as to permit the lacing operation to be carried out over the upper ends of the jig members. Alternatively, a simple hand tool might be employed, after the wires have been laced through the jigs, to sever the wires and connect them to the terminals in the connectors. Also, the jig members may be of relatively simple construction and be adapted to be mounted on an insertion tool which has an integral connector holding means as shown for example in application Ser. No. 332,537. Finally, while a single panel is shown in the drawing, the jig members might be mounted on several panels which are spaced apart if the harness being manufactured has extremely long wires extending between the connectors and/or is of a relatively complex nature.

The harness manufacturing method disclosed herein can advantageously be carried out with automated manufacturing equipment if the volume and complexity of the harness being produced warrants automated production. The wire lacing operations, for example, can be carried out under the direction of a computer program by means of a movable wire feeding head of the general type disclosed in the US. Pat. to Vickery No. 3,186,077 and a wire-trimming and inserting operation can be similarly carried out with an insertion apparatus mounted above the panel board for movement relative thereto. The movable insertion apparatus can be programed to move to each of the jig members in turn and carry out the wire trimming and inserting operations described above.

Changes in construction will occur to those skilled in the art and various apparently different modifications and embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only.

What is claimed is:

l. The method of manufacturing an electrical harness of the type comprising at least three multi-contact electrical devices, each of said devices comprising a housing having a plurality of electrical contact terminals therein and conductors extending between said devices, said conductors having their ends connected to predetermined terminals in said devices, said method comprising the steps of:

positioning a plurality of wire locating jig means at locations corresponding to the desired positions of said electrical devices in the completed harness, lacing a conductor between said jig means along a path which conforms to the conductor routing between said electrical devices in the finished harness and, while so lacing said conductor, positioning portions of said conductor in positions in each of said jig means which correspond to the positions of said predetermined terminals in said devices, positioning one of said electrical devices proximate to each of said jig means with said terminals in each device in alignment with a portion of a predetermined conductor extending to the associated jig means, and moving said conductors from said jig means to said terminals in said electrical devices, and connecting the cut ends of said conductors directly to said predetermined terminals. 2. The method set forth in claim 1 including the step of cutting said conductors in said jig means during movement of said conductors from said jig means to said terminals.

3. The method set forth in claim 2, said wire locating jig means having means for holding and locating one of said electrical devices, and said electrical devices are positioned in said jig means prior to lacing said conductor over said panelboard.

4. The method of manufacturing an electrical harness of the type comprising a plurality of multi-contact electrical connectors having electrical contact terminals therein, said terminals having conductor-receiving slots, said conductors being received in said slots, said method comprising the steps of:

mounting a plurality ofjig means on a panel board in positions relative to each other which correspond to the positions of said connectors relative to each other in the finished harness, each of said jig means being of the type having means for holding one electrical connector in a predetermined position, conductor holding means for holding a plurality of conductors in alignment with the contact terminals in said connectors and tool mounting means for disengageably mounting a conductor trimming and inserting tool thereon, lacing conductors between said jig means along paths corresponding to the conducting paths desired in said harness and locating portions of said conductors in said wire holding means of said jig means,

mounting a conductor trimming and inserting tool on each of said jig means and actuating said tool and thereby trimming said conductors and inserting said conductors into said slots to mechanically and electrically connect said conductors to said terminals.

5. The method of manufacturing an electrical harness of the type comprising a plurality of multi-contact electrical connectors having electrical contact terminals therein, and wires extending between said connectors and connected to said terminals, said method comprising the steps of:

positioning a plurality of connector holding and wire locating jig means on a panelboard at locations corresponding to the desired positions of said connectors in the completed harness,

lacing a wire over said panelboard between said jig means along a path which conforms to the wire routing in the finished harness and, while so lacing said wire, positioning said wire in said jig means in alignment with predetermined contact terminals in said connectors in accordance with the wiring plan of said harness, and

cutting said wire in said jig means and concomitantly connecting the cut ends of said wire to said predetermined terminals.

6. Apparatus for manufacturing an electrical harness, said harness comprising a plurality of multi-contact electrical connectors having electrical contact terminals therein, and conductors extending between said connectors and being connected to said terminals, said apparatus comprising: panel means,

a plurality ofjig means mounted on said panel means, said jig means being positioned, relative to each other,

at locations corresponding to the locations of the connectors in the harness being manufactured,

each of said jig means having connector holding means for holding one of said connectors and conductor holding and locating means for locating a conductor in alignment with a predetermined one of said contact terminals, and

tool means, said tool means being cooperable with said jig means to connect a conductor in said jig means to the predetermined one of said terminals with which said conductors are in alignment whereby, said harness is manufactured by mounting a connector in each of said jig means, positioning conductors on said panel board with portions of each conductor in predetermined conductor holding means and in alignment with predetermined terminals, and thereafter connecting said portions of said conductors to said terminals with said tool means whereby said conductors become fixed to said terminals.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6, said conductor holding means comprising wire holding means, said wire holding means having fixed shearing edge means between said conductor holding means and said connector holding means, said tool means having movable shearing edge means cooperable with said fixed shearing edge means to shear said wires concomitantly with connection of said wires to said terminals.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7, said tool means being cooperable with said each of said jig means to trim all of said wires in each of said jig means and connect said wires to said terminals in each of said connectors.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8, said tool means being disengageably mounted on one of said jig means whereby one tool means can be used for all of said jig means.

10. Apparatus for manufacturing an electrical harness, said harness comprising a plurality of multicontact electrical connectors having electrical contact terminals therein, and conductors extending between said connectors and being connected to said terminals, said apparatus comprising:

panel means,

a plurality ofjig means mounted on said panel means at locations, relative to each other, corresponding to the locations of said connectors in said harness,

each of said jig means having connector holding means and having one of said connectors mounted therein, said contact terminals in said connectors each having a conductor-receiving slot which is adapted to receive a conductor upon movement of said conductor laterally of its axis and into said slot,

said terminals in each connector being a parallel side-by-side relationship,

each of said jig means having a plurality of conductor locating means for locating said conductors proximate to said terminals with the axes of said conductors extending transversely of said slots, and

tool means for cooperation with said jig means for transferring said conductors from said conductor holding means to said slots in said terminals whereby, said harness is assembled by lacing said conductor between said jig means, positioning said conductor in said conductor holding means, and transferring said conductor means from said conductor holding means to said slots with said tool means.

11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10, said apparatus being adapted to the manufacture of harnesses in which said conductor means comprises wires, said jig means each having fixed severing edge means between said conductor holding means and said connector holding means, said tool means having movable shearing edge means for trimming said wires during movement thereof into said conductor-receiving slots.

12. Apparatus for manufacturing an electrical har ness of the type comprising a plurality of multi-contact electrical connectors, each of said connectors comprising an insulating housing having a plurality of contact terminals therein, each of said terminals being of the type having a conductor-receiving slot thereon which is adapted to receive and form an electrical connection with, a conductor upon movement of said conductor laterally of its axis and into said slot, said apparatus comprising:

a panel,

a plurality of connector and wire jigs mounted on said panel at locations, relative to each other, corresponding to the position of the connectors in the harness being manufactured, said jigs each having means for holding one of said electrical connectors and means for locating wires in alignment with said slots in said terminals,

tool mounting means on each of said jigs for mounting a conductor trimming and inserting tool thereon of the type which is effective to trim the ends of said conductors and insert said conductors into said slots of said terminals whereby,

upon placement of connectors in said jigs, lacing conductors between said jigs in the pattern desired in said harness, and then mounting a conductor trimming and inserting tool on each of said jigs and actuating said tool, said conductors are trimmed and connected to said terminals to complete said harness. 

1. The method of manufacturing an electrical harness of the type comprising at least three multi-contact electrical devices, each of said devices comprising a housing having a plurality of electrical contact terminals therein and conductors extending between said devices, said conductors having their ends connected to predetermined terminals in said devices, said method comprising the steps of: positioning a plurality of wire locating jig means at locations corresponding to the desired positions of said electrical devices in the completed harness, lacing a conductor between said jig means along a path which conforms to the conductor routing between said electrical devices in the finished harness and, while so lacing said conductor, positioning portions of said conductor in positions in each of said jig means which correspond to the positions of said predetermined terminals in said devices, positioning one of said electrical devices proximate to each of said jig means with said terminals in each device in alignment with a portion of a predetermined conductor extending to the associated jig means, and moving said conductors from said jig means to said terminals in said electrical devices, and connecting the cut ends of said conductors directly to said predetermined terminals.
 2. The method set forth in claim 1 including the step of cutting said conductors in said jig means during movement of said conductors from said jig means to said terminals.
 3. The method set forth in claim 2, said wire locating jig means having means for holding and locating one of said electrical devices, and said electrical devices are positioned in said jig means prior to lacing said conductor over said panelboard.
 4. The method of manufacturing an electrical harness of the type comprising a plurality of multi-contact electrical connectors having electrical contact terminals therein, said terminals having conductor-receiving slots, said conductors being received in said slots, said method comprising the steps of: mounting a plurality of jig means on a panel board in positions relative to each other which correspond to the positions of said connectors relative to each other in the finished harness, each of said jig means being of the type having means for holding one electrical connector in a predetermined position, conductor holding means for holding a plurality of conductors in alignment with the contact terminals in said connectors and tool mounting means for disengageably mounting a conductor trimming and inserting tool thereon, lacing conductors between said jig means along paths corresponding to the conducting paths desired in said harness and locating portions of said conductors in said wire holding means of said jig means, mounting a conductor trimming and inserting tool on each of said jig means and actuating said tool and thereby trimming said conductors and inserting said conductors into said slots to mechanically and electrically connect said conductors to said terminals.
 5. The method of manufacturing an electrical harness of the type comprising a plurality of multi-contact electrical connectors having electrical contact terminals therein, and wires extending between said connectors and connected to said terminals, said method comprising the steps of: positioning a plurality of connector holding and wire locating jig means on a panelboard at locations corresponding to the desired positions of said connectors in the completed harness, lacing a wire over said panelboard between said jig means along a paTh which conforms to the wire routing in the finished harness and, while so lacing said wire, positioning said wire in said jig means in alignment with predetermined contact terminals in said connectors in accordance with the wiring plan of said harness, and cutting said wire in said jig means and concomitantly connecting the cut ends of said wire to said predetermined terminals.
 6. Apparatus for manufacturing an electrical harness, said harness comprising a plurality of multi-contact electrical connectors having electrical contact terminals therein, and conductors extending between said connectors and being connected to said terminals, said apparatus comprising: panel means, a plurality of jig means mounted on said panel means, said jig means being positioned, relative to each other, at locations corresponding to the locations of the connectors in the harness being manufactured, each of said jig means having connector holding means for holding one of said connectors and conductor holding and locating means for locating a conductor in alignment with a predetermined one of said contact terminals, and tool means, said tool means being cooperable with said jig means to connect a conductor in said jig means to the predetermined one of said terminals with which said conductors are in alignment whereby, said harness is manufactured by mounting a connector in each of said jig means, positioning conductors on said panel board with portions of each conductor in predetermined conductor holding means and in alignment with predetermined terminals, and thereafter connecting said portions of said conductors to said terminals with said tool means whereby said conductors become fixed to said terminals.
 7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6, said conductor holding means comprising wire holding means, said wire holding means having fixed shearing edge means between said conductor holding means and said connector holding means, said tool means having movable shearing edge means cooperable with said fixed shearing edge means to shear said wires concomitantly with connection of said wires to said terminals.
 8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7, said tool means being cooperable with said each of said jig means to trim all of said wires in each of said jig means and connect said wires to said terminals in each of said connectors.
 9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8, said tool means being disengageably mounted on one of said jig means whereby one tool means can be used for all of said jig means.
 10. Apparatus for manufacturing an electrical harness, said harness comprising a plurality of multi-contact electrical connectors having electrical contact terminals therein, and conductors extending between said connectors and being connected to said terminals, said apparatus comprising: panel means, a plurality of jig means mounted on said panel means at locations, relative to each other, corresponding to the locations of said connectors in said harness, each of said jig means having connector holding means and having one of said connectors mounted therein, said contact terminals in said connectors each having a conductor-receiving slot which is adapted to receive a conductor upon movement of said conductor laterally of its axis and into said slot, said terminals in each connector being a parallel side-by-side relationship, each of said jig means having a plurality of conductor locating means for locating said conductors proximate to said terminals with the axes of said conductors extending transversely of said slots, and tool means for cooperation with said jig means for transferring said conductors from said conductor holding means to said slots in said terminals whereby, said harness is assembled by lacing said conductor between said jig means, positioning said conductor in said conductor holding means, and transferring said conductor means from said conductor holding means to said slots with said tool means.
 11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10, said apparatus being adapted to the manufacture of harnesses in which said conductor means comprises wires, said jig means each having fixed severing edge means between said conductor holding means and said connector holding means, said tool means having movable shearing edge means for trimming said wires during movement thereof into said conductor-receiving slots.
 12. Apparatus for manufacturing an electrical harness of the type comprising a plurality of multi-contact electrical connectors, each of said connectors comprising an insulating housing having a plurality of contact terminals therein, each of said terminals being of the type having a conductor-receiving slot thereon which is adapted to receive and form an electrical connection with, a conductor upon movement of said conductor laterally of its axis and into said slot, said apparatus comprising: a panel, a plurality of connector and wire jigs mounted on said panel at locations, relative to each other, corresponding to the position of the connectors in the harness being manufactured, said jigs each having means for holding one of said electrical connectors and means for locating wires in alignment with said slots in said terminals, tool mounting means on each of said jigs for mounting a conductor trimming and inserting tool thereon of the type which is effective to trim the ends of said conductors and insert said conductors into said slots of said terminals whereby, upon placement of connectors in said jigs, lacing conductors between said jigs in the pattern desired in said harness, and then mounting a conductor trimming and inserting tool on each of said jigs and actuating said tool, said conductors are trimmed and connected to said terminals to complete said harness. 